


dragonheart

by wearthesun



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Warriors
Genre: Established Relationship, Link rushes to his aid, M/M, Volga is hurt in battle, not rated but mentions of violence and blood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-07
Updated: 2016-11-07
Packaged: 2018-08-29 13:57:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8492407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wearthesun/pseuds/wearthesun
Summary: Volga refused to be defeated by a pretentious Demon Lord and a Usurper King. His death would only come at the hand of the greatest warrior he knew or it would not come at all, and these mere servants were not his final enemies.





	

Volga was cornered. There was no way out, no options.

Having suffered many blows and cuts from Ghirahim and Zant, he was bloody, weakened and exhausted. They had him pinned against the keep's wall. His spear was far out of his reach. Even his fire, becoming harder to summon, seemed to abandon him.

“I expected more from you, Dragon Knight,” Ghirahim mocked.

Zant laughed. “You are not worthy of your title. We should give you a new one.”

Volga refused to be defeated by a pretentious Demon Lord and a Usurper King. His death would only come at the hand of the greatest warrior he knew or it would not come at all, and these mere servants were not his final enemies. “Is this all you can do?” he spat at them.

“Far from it,” Zant said, raising his scimitars.

Volga rose. It took all the energy he had left, but he unfolded his dragon wings. If fate had caught up with him after all, he would die as a dragon, not as a human.

But that was just what his worthless opponents had been counting on. Ghirahim appeared right next to him, materializing in a sea of diamonds, catching the Dragon Knight off guard. Zant seized the opportunity to strike a distracted Volga, and sunk one blade in each fiery wing.

Volga felt his wings open as Zant tore deeper and deeper. He couldn't hold back his screams.

 

*

 

Link heard Volga cry out from across the battlefield.

He froze. The dinolfos he was fighting would have injured him badly if Impa hadn't struck it first. Link nodded his thanks and ran to the Dragon Knight, slaying every enemy in his way.

When he reached Volga, he saw him lying on the ground, with both Zant and Ghirahim standing over him, peering down at him. Link gasped in horror as he took in the blades holding Volga's wings down. He couldn't even begin to imagine the pain Volga must have been in.

Link, enraged, drew his own sword. The demons turned to face him as they heard the sound of his blade.

“Ah, Hero!” Ghirahim teased, smiling wickedly. “Have you come to rescue your lover? The once great and fierce Dragon Knight?”

“He is now reduced to nothing else but a broken beast,” Zant said, in obvious delight. “A traitor, an abomination. A wingless animal. A dragon with no fire.”

Ghirahim laughed. A cold sound that chilled Link to his bones. “The age of Dragons is over.”

“Humans will soon follow,” Zant finished. “The time of Demons has arrived.”

Link looked at Volga. He was barely moving, barely breathing. If he could change into his full dragon form, he already would have. He was stuck in this hybrid shape. Link knew Volga wanted the dignity to die as his true self. If he could, The Dragon Knight would have scorched the entire battlefield for what these demons did to him. And Link was ready to do the same.

“I will leave the Hero to you,” Zant told Ghirahim before disappearing in a black cloud. His scimitars were left behind to trap Volga.

Link was ready for Ghirahim's attack. In his fury, he could have held them both off. He avoided the Demon Lord's sword easily, dodging the blow to get behind him, and stabbed him in his side. Ghirahim was not fazed, and kept trying to hit Link. But he fought too fast, distraught, obviously struggling to battle the Hero by himself. It wasn't long before he fled, evaporating from thin air.

Link dropped the Master Sword and ran to Volga's side. He was still conscious, hardly. Link carefully removed Volga's helmet, revealing tear-filled eyes. The fire inside them was burning dangerously low. Volga was bleeding all over, Link couldn't assess every wound, but he knew the more pressing ones were the tears in his wings.

He didn't know what to do. The healers wouldn't reach them in time, and he couldn't bear to leave Volga alone. He gently put his hand on the knight's warm cheek, begging to tell him how he could help.

Volga understood, as he always did. He had never needed help understanding Link's silences. “The blades,” he whispered. “Remove them.”

Link forced himself to nod. He knew how much it would hurt. He had no idea what would happen. Volga might bleed out. Maybe his wings would never heal. Maybe he would never fly again. Never be able to be his true self again. But Link stood anyway, grabbed Zant's first blade with both hands, and using all his strength, pulled it out without hesitation.

Volga howled with pain. Link shared his agony. He hated causing Volga suffering, even if it was to save him. Giving him a quick apologetic look, he walked to the second wing and tore the second blade out, throwing it away once he was done.

The tears were large and ran deep. Link desperately pressed his hands over one to stop the bleeding. Volga was drowning in his own blood, silenced by his misery. He was beginning to lose consciousness. “Link. . .”

Link started to get up to get help, but with the little force Volga had left, he grabbed his wrist to stop him. “Don't leave me here,” he murmured. “Please.”

So Link did not leave his side. He put his hand on Volga's chest, where his heart was beating faintly underneath his armor. Link wanted to feel every heartbeat. Refused to accept each might be the last.

Zelda arrived only seconds later with a part of her army and healers. Seeing the Dragon Knight gravely hurt, she sent them hurriedly to his side. She approached Link and delicately rested her hand on his shoulder. “We have to get him out of here,” she told him. He nodded, never tearing his gaze from Volga, and stood. He watched as the healers carried Volga's broken body and set him on a stretcher. More healers came to help carry his torn wings. Link realized he was crying, and wiped the tears away.

The Hero walked by the Dragon's side, his eyes fixed on the slow rises and falls of the wounded knight's chest.

 

*

 

Darkness came and went. Volga fought to stay awake, and when he was, wished he was asleep. He felt like he was stuck in a never-ending twilight – no days, no nights, only everlasting unrest. The pain never left him. He still couldn't feel his wings.

The first thing he saw when he woke from this dazed state was a sea of blue and a field of gold. Link's face was a sight for sore eyes, even made so pale from worry. Volga could always read his emotions, written right there for the whole world to see.

Link smiled softly, and Volga felt his heart swell. If looks could heal, he would have been made whole again right in that moment. He looked around. They seemed to be back in the camp the Hyrulean army had set up near the Eldin caves. He was lying in a bed, his armor removed, bandages covering multiple wounds on his body. He knew his wings were stretched out uselessly under him, because no matter how many times and how hard he tried, he could not retract them. Almost like they were not there at all. It was a dreadful feeling.

“Were you hurt?” he asked the boy next to him.

Link shook his head, undoubtedly surprised Volga had not asked about himself first, but obviously grateful for his needless concern. A question formed in his eyes.

“I can't feel them,” Volga answered in a weak voice. Link held his hand, squeezing gently to say he was sorry. Volga could hear every word Link did not voice. He told a lot in a single touch, a single look. That he was sorry Volga was harmed, sorry he couldn't feel his wings, sorry he didn't know if he ever would, sorry he couldn't share his misery. That he was blaming himself for not having been by his side, that he would give up his own limbs to save Volga's. Volga could see all of this, and he had no idea how to respond or how to express his gratitude. “I know,” was all he could utter.

“I will kill them for this,” he said a moment later. Link nodded, raising a fist, promising to join the fight and help Volga get his revenge. “I will burn them. Slowly –”

But only then did Volga realize that his fire was gone. The absence of it was like a hole in his heart, in his soul. He tried desperately to summon it, and failed. _A dragon with no fire._

What had the demons done to him?

“My fire,” Volga lamented, fighting sobs, his breath ragged. “They stole my fire when they cut my wings.”

Link slowly, cautiously, lied down beside Volga. He rested his head on a part of his chest that was not hurt. He layed his hand on his heart, feeling its every beat. He never once touched the wings, not wanting to hurt Volga further. The Dragon held the Hero as he pushed back the tears that threatened to overwhelm him. They were of no use to him. Once he regained his strength, he would focus on his wrath instead.

“How long?” Volga demanded. Link raised seven fingers, telling Volga he had been unconscious for a whole week.

“Were you here all this time?” he asked, and Link nodded. “Thank you.”

They stayed like this a long time, holding each other in silence. A healer came later on, telling Volga nothing he did not already know. The Hyrulean healers had done everything they could. Aside form his wings, the injuries were minor and would mend in time. They weren't sure he would ever feel his wings again, if he could fly again, be a dragon again. This was uncharted territory for human healers.

When the healer mentioned a possible amputation if feeling never returned, Volga dismissed him, afraid of what he might do if he heard another word.

 

*

 

“You should leave,” Volga said to Link in the night.

Link cocked his head slightly to the side, asking why. His bright blue eyes were tired, he must have been almost falling asleep.

“Because I am not worthy of you anymore.” Link frowned. He did not understand, waited for an explanation. “You are the Hero,” Volga continued. “You are a great warrior. The greatest warrior I have had the honor to face and fight for. You are destined to save this land. You deserve to have someone by your side as admirable as you are. And I am no longer entitled to your love.”

Link shook his head frantically in disagreement. He put his hand on his own heart, then on Volga's. The Dragon Knight knew what this meant. It was how the boy expressed his love.

“What is a dragon without its wings?” Volga urged. “Without its fire? They made me less than what I am. I can no longer be called the Dragon Knight. What good am I if I am no longer a dragon?”

_A wingless animal. A broken beast._

To this, Link made Volga understand that with or without his wings, his fire, he would always be a dragon. Link pressed a fist to Volga's heart. _You have a dragon's heart._

“And what if I never heal? What use am I to you if I am nothing but a mere human?”

Volga watched Link's signs closely. The Hero told him that Volga was still worthy. That it was not important to him whether he could be a dragon again or not. That even if his wings were to hang uselessly behind his back forever, he would never abandon him. That he loved him with or without his fire.

“But I might never be able to fight for you again,” Volga insisted. “Your army will renounce me if I can't help them on the battlefield. Your Princess was clear. If I were to join you, I were to fight, or I would have to leave.”

Link told him he would not let them. He would beg at Zelda's feet if he had to, but he would not allow Volga to be exiled by her army, or he would follow.

“If you leave, your land is doomed.”

Link held Volga's face in both his hands. He stared into his eyes and Volga could read the love in his sky-colored eyes. Link kissed him tenderly and Volga was quick to kiss him back. Ignoring the pain in his arm, in his whole body, he raised his hand to grip Link's golden hair, and settled the other on the boy's back to pull him closer.

Volga understood. Link would sooner leave his army than let them abandon him, even if it meant the land would be lost to the Dark forces. Volga was more important to the Hero than Hyrule.

The Dragon Knight feared for the boy. He would never allow him to abandon his homeland, even if he could keep him close if he did. But a small part of Volga was happy to know this. No matter what, he would stay by Link's side, as long as he would have him.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I hope you liked this. Please don't hesitate to tell me if I made any mistakes. Comments and kudos are always appreciated. ♥


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